Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is a soft tissue condition that causes pain on the inside of the elbow. It is similar to tennis elbow, but the pain is felt in a different place.
It is usually caused by overuse of the forearm muscles, particularly through activities that involve gripping, lifting, or repeated bending of the wrist.
You may also hear it called medial epicondylitis or medial epicondylopathy.
Golfer’s Elbow is a condition which can get better on its own over time without treatment as long as you stop or reduce activities which aggravate it.
It has a similar recovery time to Tennis Elbow of between 6 months – 2 years.
Symptoms of golfers elbow
You may experience any or all of the following:
- Inner elbow pain on gripping, lifting or bending the wrist forward
- Inner elbow pain on opening jars/twisting movements of the wrist
- Localised tenderness on the inside of the elbow
- Stiffness on bending or straightening the elbow joint, particularly first thing in the morning
- Occasionally mild swelling and heat can be present
How common is golfers elbow?
- Golfer’s Elbow is less common than Tennis Elbow.
- It affects both men and women equally.
- Golfer’s elbow mainly affects adults and most commonly affects those within the 40-60 age group.
What causes golfers elbow?
Some of the muscles that help to move your wrist and forearm attach via a tendon to a common point at the inside of your elbow. Straining these muscles can lead to small tears and inflammation within the tendon resulting in Golfer’s Elbow pain.
An incorrect golf swing or issues with golf club grip can cause Golfer’s Elbow but many other sports or activities can also lead to symptoms.
Overuse of these muscles can happen with small repetitive movements, such as typing and using a computer mouse, or with strenuous activities. It can also be triggered by a sudden increase in manual activity. For example tasks that you would not do on a regular basis like gardening, Spring cleaning or D.I.Y.
Repetitive use of vibration tools could also cause Golfer’s Elbow symptoms.
How can I help with the condition?
Making changes to your lifestyle as well as reducing aggravating activities is key to helping your recovery. Only you can do this.
There are a number of things you can try including:
- Avoid painful movements particularly those that involve straining the forearm muscles
- Reduce repetitive twisting movements of the wrist, gripping and lifting
- Make sure you take regular short breaks from activities that aggravate your elbow pain such as typing, lifting or repetitive work
- Change activities to reduce pain. For example, the use of ergonomic computer equipment. Your employer may be able to supply this following a work station assessment
- Limit the stress on the tendon by relaxing your grip as much as possible when lifting or driving
Pacing and spacing
- Pacing and spacing methods can help you manage your pain better.
- Pacing is the term used for breaking down an activity or task. This can be done by taking regular breaks. Prioritising daily activities can also help. This can prevent “over stimulating” your pain system.
- When completing challenging tasks or activities, it may be useful to set a “baseline”. This is the amount you can manage on a good or bad day without increasing your symptoms. Therefore you can plan rests and set achievable goals.
Pain activity ladder
- By following the pain activity ladder you can identify activities that you would consider severely painful, moderately painful and mildly irritating and act to change your habits.
- The pain scale, most often used in healthcare, measures pain from 0-10 (zero being no pain and 10 representing the worst pain you could imagine).
- If you can identify the level of pain you are experiencing, you will find out if you are in the green, amber or red zone. The best way to move down to the green zone is by pacing and spacing your activity.
- When you are completing your rehabilitation exercises it is often best to work within the green (and sometimes amber zones depending on what you deem is an acceptable level of pain) both during the exercises and within 48 hours of completing your exercises. If you find yourself in the red zone you are likely pushing yourself too hard and may flare up the pain.
If after following the above advice, your symptoms have not improved within 6 to 12 weeks, a referral to a physiotherapist may be beneficial. Speak to your GP about a referral.